The Government is moving to introduce landmark reforms to the welfare system which, over time, will see the national roll out of a non-discriminatory scheme to income manage welfare payments in disadvantaged regions across Australia.
Simultaneously, the Government is moving to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA) in relation to the operation of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) and related legislation operating in the Northern Territory and Queensland. The removal of the RDA suspension, along with the redesign of relevant measures to ensure they conform with the RDA will strengthen the NTER and assist in resetting the Government’s relationship with Aboriginal people nationally.
Income management is a key tool in the Government’s broader welfare reforms designed to deliver on our commitment to a welfare system based on the principles of engagement, participation and responsibility.
The Government has already implemented a range of strategies in the interests of children including:
- the Cape York Welfare Reform trial in Queensland;
- income management for Child Protection in Western Australia;
- the School Enrolment and Attendance Measure in the Northern Territory and Queensland;
- Voluntary Income Management in Western Australia; and
- the Learn or Earn strategy, which puts requirements on parents and young people to participate in education, training or employment.
The Government is committed to progressively reforming the welfare and family payment system to foster individual responsibility and to provide a platform for people to move up and out of welfare dependence. Welfare should not be a destination or a way of life.
The Government’s welfare reforms tackle the destructive, intergenerational cycle of passive welfare:
- By quarantining a proportion of the payments of welfare recipients and 100 per cent of lump sum payments, for welfare recipients in specified categories, to make sure money is spent on life’s essentials and in the best interests of children;
- By offering evidence-based exemptions to individuals who demonstrate responsible parenting and to young people and long-term unemployed who take personal initiative through participation in education or training; and
- By offering matched-savings incentives and access to financial management support services and training for individuals who wish to improve their budgeting and savings skills.
Individuals will also be able to voluntarily sign up to the new income management scheme and will be eligible for incentives for each six months they participate in the scheme.
From 1 July, 2010, the new scheme will start across the Northern Territory, which has the highest proportion of severely disadvantaged communities in Australia.
The Government is committed to ensuring that its welfare reform agenda works for disadvantaged Australians and helps to fight the passive welfare that is destroying so many vulnerable people and communities. The welfare system needs to be seen as a two-way transaction. Governments have a responsibility to support people and families through hard times. In turn, welfare recipients have a responsibility to demonstrate personal responsibility and spend payments appropriately – on essentials like food, clothing and rent, not on alcohol and gambling.
The operation of the new income management scheme will be carefully evaluated and along with the ongoing evaluation of other income management trials currently underway in Western Australia and Queensland, this will inform the future national roll out to other severely disadvantaged regions.
In relation to the NTER, the Government believes that it has made a real difference to the wellbeing of Indigenous Territorians living in prescribed areas. This has been confirmed by what people have said in the NTER redesign consultations. Nevertheless, the Government recognises that much more needs to be done. Governments are addressing many decades of under-investment in essential infrastructure and basic government services. Reversing this will take sustained effort over at least the next decade.
The improvements achieved so far can only be sustained over the longer term through a combination of linked strategies.
A central requirement is a heightened focus on respectful engagement with Indigenous people, and close community involvement in developing and managing long-term solutions. In the NTER redesign consultations, people said they wanted to take greater ownership of solutions to problems, and were prepared to accept a greater level of personal and community responsibility.
The NTER will not achieve robust long-term outcomes if it continues to rely on the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act. The reinstatement of the RDA – coupled with effective partnership arrangements with communities – will serve to restore dignity to communities and give them the backing and incentive to become involved in driving long-term solutions.
The NTER is only part of the package of initiatives necessary to close the gap in the Northern Territory. Ongoing and increased investment in the provision of infrastructure and services is essential. Since the 2007 election, the Australian Government has strengthened and expanded the allocation of resources to the Northern Territory Emergency Response, investing more than $1.2 billion extra to help overcome decades of government failure. This is in addition to $572 million in respect of the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program, assistance to the Alice Springs Transformation Strategy and funding allocated under the COAG National Partnership Agreements in the areas of health, education and remote service delivery. The Northern Territory has 15 of the 29 priority locations under the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership.
This Policy Statement includes two component parts:
- Part 1: The Government’s position on future directions for the NTER, which outlines the measures it considers necessary to underpin the sustainable, long-term development phase of the NTER; and
- Part 2: A comprehensive outline of Government investment and strategies directed towards closing the gap in the Northern Territory.